Activities in Central Valley & Highlands
-
Río Locos
A popular local company does rafting as well as other area tours.
reviewed
-
A
Costa Rica Ríos
Offers week-long rafting trips that must be booked in advance. It’s 25m north of Parque Central.
reviewed
-
B
Explornatura
This longtime outfitter runs recommended canyoning expeditions, among other tours.
reviewed
-
Ojo de Agua Springs
About 6km south of Alajuela are the Ojo de Agua springs, a picturesque working-class water park that’s packed on weekends with families from San José and Alajuela. Approximately 20,000L of water gush out from the spring each minute, powering a small waterfall that’s great for shoulder massages, as well as filling various pools (including an Olympic-sized lap pool complete with diving tower) and an artificial boating lake. From here, the water is piped down to the coast at Puntarenas, for which the springs are a major supplier of water. There are also snack stands and game courts. From Alajuela, buses depart every half hour from the main terminal area on the southwest end …
reviewed
-
Café Britt Finca
The most famous coffee roaster in Costa Rica, Café Britt Finca is headquartered just 1km south of Barva – and offers a 90-minute bilingual tour of its area plantation that includes a video presentation and a hokey stage play about the history of coffee (small kids will likely dig it). Naturally, there’s plenty of coffee tasting and gift-shop browsing. For an extra US$10, you can combine the tour with a one-hour trip to a beneficio (processing plant). Plus the company operates a daily shuttle that can pick you up from San José for an extra fee; reserve ahead. If you are driving, you can’t miss the many signs between Heredia and Barva.
reviewed
-
Finca Cristina
Two kilometers east of Paraíso on the road to Turrialba is Finca Cristina, an organic coffee farm that is open to visitors by appointment only (call ahead for a reservation). Linda and Ernie have been farming in Costa Rica since 1977, and a 90-minute tour of their microbeneficio (miniprocessing plant) is a fantastic introduction to the processes of organic-coffee growing, harvesting and roasting. Finca Cristina also sells its product to guests at wholesale prices.
reviewed
-
C
Fundación Castillo
A few blocks from central Alajuela, this school also offers courses in business Spanish for a bit extra. There are activities and field trips around town every afternoon, and students get a discount at a local Latin dance school.
reviewed
-
Piscinas Apamar
If you brought your swimsuit, stop at Piscinas Apamar, located on the road to Guadalupe (up the hill, behind the Musmanni), where there’s not only a huge swimming pool but also three hot tubs.
reviewed
-
Los Balnearios
reviewed
-
Adventure Education Center
Combine Spanish classes and white-water rafting at this Turrialba school that also offers medical Spanish.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
Finca La Flor de Paraíso
This organic farm, outside of Cartago, offers small group classes.
reviewed
-
Merecumbé
Improve your salsa moves at this small dance academy on the southwest end of town. Their website posts the latest class schedule.
reviewed
-
Intercultura
This Heredia school also arranges volunteer positions throughout the country, and your new language comes with cooking and dance classes included.
reviewed
-
Los Patios
reviewed
-
-
Centro Panamericano de Idiomas
Based in San Joaquín de las Flores, just outside of Heredia, this popular school also has a teen program.
reviewed
-
D
Intercultura
School in Heredia also arranges volunteer opportunities and offers cooking and dance classes.
reviewed
-
E
-
F
Merecumbé
Improve your salsa moves at this small dance academy on the southwest end of town. Their website posts the latest class schedule.
reviewed
-
Tico’s River Adventures
A good local outfit offers all manner of rafting trips and runs a kayaking school.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
Río Reventazón
This storied rock-lined river has its beginnings at the Lago de Cachí, an artificial lake created by a dam of the same name. It begins here, at 1000m above sea level, and splashes down the eastern slopes of the cordilleras to the Caribbean lowlands. It is one of the most difficult, adrenaline-pumping runs in the country – and with more than 65km of rapids, you can get as hardcore as you like.
Tour operators divide the river into four sections between the dam and the take-out point in Siquirres. Las Máquinas (Power House) is a Class II–III float that’s perfect for families, while Florida, the final and most popular segment, is a scenic Class III with a little more white…
reviewed
-
Río Pacuare
The Río Pacuare is the next major river valley east of the Reventazón, and has arguably the most scenic rafting in Costa Rica, if not Central America. The river plunges down the Caribbean slope through a series of spectacular canyons clothed in virgin rainforest, through runs named for their fury and separated by calm stretches that enable you to stare at near-vertical green walls towering hundreds of meters above.
The Class III–IV Lower Pacuare is the more accessible run: 28km through rocky gorges and isolated canyons, past an indigenous village, untamed jungle and lots of wildlife curious as to what the screaming is all about.
The Upper Pacuare is also classified as…
reviewed
-
Intensa
Schools in Alajuela and Heredia teach everything from medical to business Spanish.
reviewed
-
Montaña Linda
If you want to study Spanish, Toine and Sara run one of the most affordable language schools in the country.reviewed
-
Aventuras Orosi
reviewed
